Has anyone used one of these? They seem a great price at £69.99?

I had one that was interchangeable with Gravity Dropper parts, but suffered from bushings that seized when wet, and poor sealing.

This was about three years ago though.

Wouldn’t you bother then? I’d have to get a shim as my seat post is 30.9

crc stock loads of gd parts, ive got a GD, but im considering this for my budget build!

there are 30.9 posts available….

http://www.evomtb.co.uk/xlc-pro-remote-controlled-adjustable-bike-seat-post-309mm-blackblue

i am fairly sure that gravity dropper do a 30.9 version dont they?

That’s £142 though which is a massive differance when I can get a shim for £5

I have that XCL one and paid a lot less than that for it.

Its good but the lever doesn’t really pull enough cable and its very susceptible to sticky cables

yes, i have/had the same problem with my specialized command post, i did manage to sort it, funnily enough when i changed a kinked xtr outer cable for a cheap clarkes one from halfrauds!!! think it must be a slightly bigger bore, i just make sure its well oiled and so far its been ok, however if i forget to clean the bike (tuttut) then it takes a bit of fettling! i think the best bet is prob a reverb, however whilst mine is still ok it will have to wait!

Matt, yes totally understand, didnt really think of price, thought issue was post diameter, my fault for not reading properly!

I’ve heard talks that they’re the same as a few other types, Ice Lift V8 and possibly the Forca range? I too have a 30.9 seatpost so I’m thinking of of getting one of these with a decent length shim.

Just fitted one to my winter hard tail. I took it apart, greased everything as there was none in it and fitted it. It’s ace. 3 positions. Works,looks and feels just like a gd. After fixing several dodgy reverbs il take this over one.

What stores are selling TMARS as i have only found em on ebay…

You can get them from
http://www.r53sport.com/

Search forum for ice V8 post, loads of discussion there and some recent reviews of the Tmars.

http://www.evomtb.co.uk/tmars-dropper-remote-height-adjustable-272mm-seatpost-aluminium-6061-t6-forged-cromo-steel-innertube

No mention of warranty etc (or on the ebay ad). Which is worrying as its an unknown commodity and theres no reassuring blurb (or even basic info).

But it’s only(!) £85, so worth a gamble anyway?

That’s what I reckoned, so bought one last week (one of the £85 ‘brand new 2013 model’ ones, with the ‘black box’ pin release wotsit on the post)

Spent Saturday stripping it down and greasing all the moving parts (including the gubbins in the black box). It all worked pretty well on a ride up and down the road, but (muddy) time will tell.

Can’t it be stripped down and greased before it gets to you? If I opened it it’d be carnage.

Well, yeah, it could, but I guess that’s reflected in the price. Plus, it is greased when it comes, I was interested in how it works mainly but also figured that more grease couldn’t hurt.

The black box was dry inside though, so that’s one area where I reckon there should be some grease/lube on the moving parts (which mine now has)

It’s actually a really simple mechanism, there’s not a lot to take apart (or go wrong)

IHN, what’s this black box you speak of?

The one the cable goes into on the back of the post on the ‘latest’ model:

Oh, and FWIW, I bought mine from this lot and the delivery was quick:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TMARS-2013-MODEL-419D-PRO-REMOTE-DROPPER-27-2mm-SEATPOST-3-HEIGHTS-/251247848914?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3a7f89edd2

I had a variant of one of these, bought new for £78. The post its self was not bad but the lever mechanism is awful. Impossible to use quickly and I found the post needed an extra tug to get it to click back into the fully extended position. By that I mean the spring didn’t have enough power to fully push the seat post back up.

I got rid. It might have been better with a decent cable, mine seemed to stretch and I mean on a ride not over time!

I’ve got to say that my experience differs totally, lever works well, post works well, very, very happy with my purchase.

Nowt like STW for conflicting advice 🙂

I’ve got to say that my experience differs totally, lever works well, post works well, very, very happy with my purchase.

Nowt like STW for conflicting advice

It could also be that there are many variants of this dropper post made by different companies. I am more than willing to accept user error but did use it for a week in Scotland so gave it a good try. The guy I got it from was UK based and was working with his Chinese supplier on improvements. In time it might be a great buy just not there yet from my experience.

Edit: Mine was from here http://www.bigmassive.co.uk/

Ah, I thought I had the 2013 version! I bought this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130790415484?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

The cable in mine goes through a nasty 90 deg bend, I wrote about it here:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tmars-dropper-cable-replacement

I “think” that the cable outer used on this post is helical, so suffers from compression. It took a month or so for the cable to settle down in mine. It is very sensitive to get just the right lever throw, without the post detaching from its setting undemanded.